California native Matt Nieto comes home to Sharks

DIGEST

Matt Nieto left California at age 14 to go to prep school in Salisbury, Conn., to help improve his chances for a future in professional hockey.

Nieto will return to his native state after being selected by the Sharks on Saturday in the second round of the NHL draft.

"I couldn't be any happier right now," Nieto said.

Nieto was born and raised in Long Beach, got his first hockey stick at age 2 and was inspired to play hockey by watching "The Mighty Ducks" movies as a kid.

Nieto, now 18, helped the United States win back-to-back gold medals in the under-18 world championships and then played a year in college at Boston University, where he had eight goals and 13 assists as a freshman.

The Sharks traded up 12 spots in the second round to get Nieto, giving up next year's third-round pick to do it.

San Jose, which because of a trade didn't have a selection in Friday's first round, followed the pick of Nieto by drafting Justin Sefton in the third round, center Sean Kuraly in the fifth round, center Daniil Sobchenko and defenseman Dylan Demelo in the sixth round, and center Colin Blackwell in the seventh. The Sharks traded their fourth-round selection to Winnipeg for the picks used to draft Sobchenko and Blackwell.

-- Robyn Regehr, who has spent his entire 12-year NHL career with the Flames and was an alternate captain, waived his no-trade clause and was dealt to the Sabres.

The trade cleared cap space for the Flames to re-sign left wing Alex Tanguay to a five-year, $17.5 million contract.

-- The Islanders traded defenseman Bruno Gervais to the Lightning for future considerations.

Elsewhere

Sturm retains WBA middleweight title

Felix Sturm (36-2-1) retained his WBA middleweight title with a split decision over Matthew Macklin (28-2) in Cologne, Germany.

Two judges scored the match 116-112 in favor of the defending champion fighting in his hometown; the third scored it 115-113 for Macklin.

"I was very strong, stronger than Felix, and I won, no doubt," Macklin said in German. "I hope Felix will give me another fight, maybe in November."

-- Laron Mitchell of San Francisco lost on a medical disqualification in the super heavyweight title bout at the USA Boxing national championships in Colorado Springs. Jonathan Hamm of St. Paul, Minn., was declared the winner.

Obituary:Nick Charles, 64, a former taxi driver who became CNN's first sports anchor in 1980, died Saturday in New Mexico after a two-year struggle with bladder cancer. Mr. Charles spent about two decades at CNN and later was a boxing commentator on Showtime and Versus.